Former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni resigned from the Knesset on
Tuesday, warning in her resignation address that Israel´s leaders are
putting the country´s existence at risk by choosing to ignore the
mounting impatience on the part of the international community.

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Livni submitted her resignation to Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, in
a meeting that put an end to the wide spread speculation that she
would resign following a decisive loss to Shaul Mofaz at the Kadima
primary in March.

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Speaking to the press after her meeting with Rivlin, Livni said she
had "the honor of leading Kadima in an election, and receiving the
public´s trust, granting it 28 [Knesset seats]. And today, Kadima is
Israel´s largest party."

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The former Kadima leader also hinted at the possibility of her return
to politics through different avenues, that she was "leaving the
Knesset at this point, but I´m not retiring from public life," saying
that Israel was "too dear to me."

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In her speech, Livni warned of an existential threat Israel faced
under its current leadership, saying that "Israel is on a volcano,
the international clock is ticking, and the existence of a Jewish,
democratic state is in mortal danger."

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"The real danger is a politics that buries its head in the sand,"
Livni said, adding that it didn’t "take a Shin Bet chief to know
that" – an apparent reference to recent comments made by the former
chief of the security service Yuval Diskin, critical of Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu´s policies on Iran and Middle East peace.

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Livni said she didn´t regret the decisions that may have brought on
her political downfall, saying she wasn´t "sorry for not backing down
in the face of political blackmail, even when the price was staying
outside the government, and for not being willing to sell the country
to the ultra-Orthodox.